Research and Development of the Power Supply System Based on Biogas-Powered SOFC for an Agricultural Enterprise

The article is devoted to the efficiency study of using solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) in the power supply system of agricultural enterprises. SOFC's advantages are high efficiency and zero polluting emissions. Biogas from the processed enterprise waste is a fuel for SOFC. The livestock complex which power source is a centralized electrical network, was selected as the research object. The integration of SOFC into the power supply system as an additional energy source will improve the livestock complex energy security, and the use of biogas from agricultural waste will reduce harmful impact on the environment. A method for determining the optimal power of the SOFC was developed. The method takes into account the total cost of energy supply to the enterprise. Energy supply cost dependence on the SOFC rated power was studied. As a result, a cost function extremum corresponding to the SOFC optimal capacity was found out.